The Internet Without Connection, Free Endless OS For Emerging Markets

Endless OS: A Linux-based 'application centric' desktop operating system for emerging markets that can not always rely on an Internet connection... and it's free.

There are four billion people on the planet without PCs or access to affordable personal computers. That figure should surely be tempered with some contextualization i.e. not everybody actually wants to have an Internet connection and many traditional, native or bucolic ways of live do still exist on the planet.

Regardless, there are a batch of global initiatives in existence which seek to give computer access to every man, woman and especially child.

Endless OS is one such project. The free operating system has been designed explicitly to work in the expensive or restrictive Internet data conditions that often exist in emerging markets where fabulously affordable broadband has yet to arrive. The software itself is built to provide useful information and educational content, with or without an Internet connection.

No Internet connection

The Endless OS is built for a world where Internet access is either flaky, really expensive or in some cases almost non-existent. This means that the software application development behind the technology has to perform software updates and handle application performance in a different way.

To accommodate for both online and offline life, Endless OS comes with 100s of preinstalled apps for health, education, business and entertainment including an office suite, Wikipedia, Khan Academy, curricula and educational games.

“The biggest challenge to connecting the next four billion people on earth today is access to affordable PCs and inexpensive data that will need to fall by 90 percent, on average, to make the Internet universally affordable for everyone,” said Matt Dalio, founder and CEO, Endless. “Endless OS was created to help people with no computer training and limited or even no Internet connectivity join the digital world. Its primary feature, however, is the way in which it works on any form of Internet connection so you’re able to access the pre-loaded apps, which includes training in micro-entrepreneurship anytime needed.”

Multi-language support

Endless OS is available in two versions: a Lite version for users who have regular access to the Internet and can download the apps and content they want from the Endless app center. This version supports the English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Arabic, Chinese and Bahasa languages. Bengali, Thai and Vietnamese will be added soon.

By contrast, the full version is designed for users with little or no Internet connection at all. It works in much the same way, but is engineered to operate in the knowledge that the operating system (OS) itself and the apps it runs won’t be capable of receiving updates often, if ever.

According to the technical team at Endless OS, this operating system is not your typical Linux distribution. “We don’t use rpm, apt or any other packaging system. We use a read-only root file system managed by OSTree with application bundles overlaid on top. We have a different target user. Most desktop Linux distributions are oriented towards tech-savvy users and developers. Simplicity is the key, so we carefully pick and choose the best applications available for our users. A number of core technologies underlie our OS, in particular the Linux kernel, OSTree, systemd, GNU, X, GNOME and Xapian.”

Silicon Valley to Arabian sands

Endless was founded in 2012. The company is based in San Francisco and has offices in Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City, Guatemala City, Taipei and London with people on the ground in Jordan and the UAE. Not exactly your average New York, London, Milan etc. list of footprint destinations is it?

The operating system itself is compatible with Windows XP or newer versions of Windows. Users can also try Endless OS by booting directly from a live USB (or you can make an installer USB to replace your current operating system). Images are also available for Linux desktop machines and Mac OS X.

In summary, Endless OS is an interesting product in that it is desktop focused in an age when we are all going mobile. Its makers say that this is because the majority of the use cases it is targeting the product at are 'creation' rather than 'consumption' focused and that these activities tend to be better suited to a desktop.